Filed under: Comment
Two years ago I wrote a post about Standard Chartered bank.
In it, I called into question their whole ‘Here For Good’ positioning – not because they were a bank, but because their communication just asked a bunch of philosophical questions rather than talking about any single thing they did that was actually ‘for good’.
At the end of the post, I said they were more likely to ‘be here for their own good’ than others.
Well, if reports from the US are to be believed, I was right.
Is it a surprise?
Not really … it’s more a surprise that a financial institution wasn’t suspected of bending the rules for so long.
I particularly like how the media have decided [allegedly] dealing with Iran is worse that systematically destroying the lives of millions of people around the World with false promises and hidden fee mortgage offers.
Of course, it’s not entirely their fault – every shareholder and account holder that demands ever increasing dividends or interest have to shoulder some of the blame, but still, it’s not all bad news for Standard Chartered’s senior execs … after all, in the financial industry, what they’ve done is probably viewed as ‘heroic’ so they can probably expect to receive a massive end of year bonus as an industry thank you.
The World’s gone mad. Or should I say, madder.
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Saying a bank is full of money sucking, lying, thieving wankers doesn’t make you Nostradamus, it makes you a little bit more sane than I ever gave you credit for.
Comment by DH August 9, 2012 @ 6:25 amUnfortunately, that’s a very fair point. Bugger.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:01 amAnd your point about dealing with Iran being worse than fucking over families is a good one. Seems Standard Chartered’s charter is the usual anti robin hood bank “standard”; fuck over the poor to feed the rich.
Did you like the robin hood reference? Consider it your christmas present.
Comment by DH August 9, 2012 @ 6:29 amYes I did and yes I will. Let’s face it, that’s more than you’ve ever given me previously!
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:01 amWhat is this “interest” that you speak of? I’ve never seen, heard or been offered it in all my decades of dealing with banks. If you know where I could get some, I’d be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.
Comment by George August 9, 2012 @ 6:41 amIf the allegations against Standard Chartered are true, I hope their trading licence is revoked. Too many financial organisations view fines as nothing more than a cost of operation, leaving them free to abuse society again and again and again. A petty thief would not be given such lenient terms and neither should a bank.
You don’t get interest when you buy the banks.
Comment by John August 9, 2012 @ 6:50 amHe’s not that wealthy John. Yet.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:02 amLost opportunities.
Comment by Lee Hill August 9, 2012 @ 7:45 amOh yes. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:02 amQuite.
Comment by George August 9, 2012 @ 12:42 pmHave you seen the documentary, ‘The Inside Job’?
Apart from it being utterly brilliant, there’s a frightening bit where he goes through all the fines the banks have paid for things they’ve done wrong – though part of the condition of payment is to not be seen as accepting blame. It’s like someone accepting they have to spend 20 years in jail as long as they don’t get called guilty for murdering a child.
That said, the lawyers of the banks aren’t stupid because they know the label of ‘guilt & theft’ is far worse than any fine … even though the irony is every financial organisation seems to practice business on the same terms.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:05 amA documentary about criminal acts within major corporations. That’s your version of porn isn’t it Rob.
Comment by DH August 9, 2012 @ 8:40 amHSBC also got in trouble recently for knowingly laundering the proceeds of organised crime on behalf of major drug cartels. They were fined $600 million. Something tells me that if an individual was caught doing this, they would face more than a large fine. Banks are a joke. You can say shareholder greed contributes to their slack standards but with so many bonuses being handed out, I would say their focus is muchore on their own wealth creation than anyone else.
Comment by Pete August 9, 2012 @ 6:58 amI read that – but I thought it was only about $30 million, which is probably a weeks worth of profit or something.
To my response to George, maybe it’s time the governments stopped accepting fines and started going after labels of ‘guilt’ … even though all that would happen is the people behind the schemes move on to other banks for even more cash.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:08 amHalf of the problem is the governing bodies where these banks are registered don’t want to rock the boat because the income they receive from them is so vast, they literally wouldn’t know how to cope without them.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:09 amBankers are wankers. Fact.
Comment by Billy Whizz August 9, 2012 @ 7:39 amYou should be running the financial regulation services.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 8:05 amThis is depressing.
Comment by Age August 9, 2012 @ 3:15 pmAre you referring to this post, blog or life?
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 3:35 pmMainly this post (specifically banks and their grip on all of us) and the fact that Andy is not here 🙁
Comment by Age August 9, 2012 @ 9:32 pmI used to work on Northern Rock, as such I feel I have no credibility in this conversation. Mind you, I don’t in most of them and it didn’t stop me there.
Comment by northern August 9, 2012 @ 3:41 pmYou have as much cred as the people who work in banks. At least you talk sense and are interesting. Well, if you ignore your Smiths addiction and just focus on your love of Youporn.
In the office.
In a meeting.
With colleagues.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 3:43 pmA core skill of planning is to be able to make anything interesting. Sometimes it just needs a little extra to make workshop about a second tier fizzy drinks brand exciting.
Comment by northern August 9, 2012 @ 4:21 pmInteresting and exciting while not falling into over-important, over-promising marketing wank … which the ego of clients [and agencies] often fail to understand.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 4:37 pmisn’t it weird that in surveys people still say that they would trust bankers more than others (like politicians, car sales men and ad people)?
Comment by seb August 9, 2012 @ 5:15 pmI wouldn’t be surprised if we found the people doing the surveys worked for the banks. That aside, can I say how nice it is to have you commenting on here again Seb.
It’s nice. Really nice.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2012 @ 5:48 pmI heard a story once about a guy who never bought car insurance. It cost too much and the fines weren’t that big. So he just drove without it, everytime he got caught he paid the fine and carried on. Was far cheaper to operate illegally than legally.
Banking.
Comment by Rob Mortimer (Not a fake Andy) August 9, 2012 @ 8:40 pmpretty sure that’s how Greece and Italy operate across all levels on a daily basis.
Comment by Age August 9, 2012 @ 9:33 pmAnd the prisons are too full to accommodate more criminals. It must feel like utopia for villains.
Comment by Pete August 9, 2012 @ 11:48 pm